Yes, Hawaii did offer a 5th-grade quarterback a scholarship

The scholarship offer Hawaii made to a fifth-grade quarterback is real even if it’s non-binding.

The father of Titan Lacaden confirmed to ESPN that Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich had offered his fifth-grade son Titan a scholarship over the weekend. The Lacedens are natives of Hawaii and went to a Warriors camp.

“(Rolovich) said he likes Titan and what he does. We both agreed that he’s different, he carries himself differently,” Frank Lacaden said. “They said they want to offer a scholarship and asked me how I felt about it. I know what my older son went through in the recruiting process and it’s difficult, especially with us being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. So when opportunity knocks, you answer the door.”

Kids typically turn 11 in their fifth-grade years. And typically also have seven years until college.

Titan is the younger brother of former Nevada linebacker Jake Lacaden. All verbal scholarship offers to recruits — no matter how old they are — are non-binding and can be rescinded at any time. While we don’t blame the family for bragging about the offer, they also likely know the stipulations given the first-hand experience with the recruiting process. Titan may not even be playing football in high school — it’s at least three years away.

Rolovich had some fun with the offer on Twitter though, tweeting to Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin who famously offered then-middle-school quarterback David Sills a scholarship when he was the coach at USC. Sills is now a wide receiver at West Virginia.

Kiffin recently offered a scholarship to the 13-year-old son of former Tennessee quarterback and current USC assistant coach Tee Martin. There’s clearly nothing stopping college coaches from offering scholarships to kids in grade school. Hopefully the parents of future middle school offers understand there are no real collegiate implications.